Download biography in pdf format - Mad Minute Music

www.realworldrecords.com/aurelio
www.f‐cat.de
Real World Records are delighted to announce the release of
‘Laru Beya’, the new album from Aurelio Martinez, working in
associate with F­Cat Productions to present this exceptional
artist in Europe.
One of the most extraordinary and passionate Central American artists of his
generation, Aurelio Martinez is a musical ambassador for the threatened
Garifuna culture. Hailing from a small community in Honduras, he is recognised
for his preservation and modernization of this musical tradition with his
distinctive, powerfully evocative vocals and his talent as a composer, guitarist
and percussionist.
The Garifuna culture encompasses the African and Caribbean roots of Aurelio’s
ancestors, a group of shipwrecked slaves who intermarried with local natives on
the island of St. Vincent, only to be deported to the Central American coast in the
late 18 th century. The young Aurelio learnt from his songwriter mother and his
local troubadour father, making his own guitars from cans and fishing line. Music
and songs were the only entertainment in a place with no electricity and little
contact with the outside world, and it is these songs that shaped him as an artist,
and inspired the pieces on Laru Beya. By the time he was 14, Aurelio was already
a respected musician with a firm grounding in Garifuna rhythms, rituals and
songs.
Aurelio’s musical career took a global turn thanks to his Belizean friend and
fellow musician, the late Andy Palacio, who invited Aurelio to a major Garifuna
festival. The two artists struck up a decades‐long friendship thanks in part to
their shared hopes for the future of Garifuna music and culture. For Aurelio, Laru
Beya is not only a way of honouring Palacio as a person; it is also a means for
continuing his mission of uplifting and expanding what it meant to be a Garifuna
artist.
Thanks to a mentorship with Youssou N’Dour, as part of the Rolex Mentor and
Protégé Arts Initiative Aurelio found himself in Senegal, learning from the singer,
rethinking his arrangements and exploring the musical links between the
Garifuna sound and West Africa. You can view a film about this amazing trip
here. Youssou N’Dour and Orchestra Baobab guest on the new album, which
is produced by Ivan Duran of Stonetree Records (Andy Palacio, Umalali and the

man behind the international rise of Central American Garifuna music). Click
here to read in interview with Ivan Duran for Afropop Worldwide.
The resulting album is a lush journey marked with thoughtful reflections on the
Garifuna past, the sometimes difficult present, and the promising glimmers of the
future for artists like Aurelio.
“This album is about far more than just keeping tradition alive; it’s about urging
people to action when they listen. This album will show people in Central America
and around the world that Garifuna music is alive and well, and that artists are
moving it forward,” Aurelio affirms. “I know I must continue the culture of my
grandparents, of my ancestors, and find new ways to express it. Few people know
about it, but I adore it, and it’s something I must share with the world.”
Click here to read and article in The Sunday Times article about Aurelio and the
Garifuna background.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
‘Laru Beya’ is released 14 February 2011 (Europe)
Scheduled touring periods: Key concerts in May/June + 2 nd half July/August
2011 + end October/November
___________________________________________________________________
F‐Cat Productions (European main agent) – Womex Stand 72
Earth Beat Entertainment (BeNeLux) – Womex Stand 164
Mad Minute Music (France) – Womex Stand 54
Real World Records – Womex Stand 136
Real World Records, October 2010